1 in 3 Medical Directors in Line for Bonus Pay

Adding a medical director to a hospital's staff is costing some healthcare institutions about $1 million each year, while creating a lucrative career path for the physicians who are hired in that role.

This year, nearly 35% of medical directors are getting bonuses, 8% more than last year, a compensation survey shows.

These medical directors aren't in the C-suite, but they are running service lines or filling other administrative roles. For the most part, they are not also considered chief medical officers.

The findings were revealed in the 2012 Medical Director Compensation Survey published by Integrated Healthcare Strategies, a healthcare human resource and compensation consulting firm headquartered in Dallas. The survey included data on 179 organizations and more than 3,000 medical directors. For the most part, CMOs were excluded from the survey, which examined 94 medical director positions.

At least 60% of hospitals reported spending at least $500,000 in medical director compensation in 2011. Psychiatry, general, emergency medicine and family medicine were among the most common medical director positions, the survey showed.